Lineage
by OrangeWolf4
Summary: Bloodslines is a new injustice team consisting of the team's evil family members. They want their family back and away from the league, just what are their plans for the young justice team and will they accept their offers? I tried to be as accurate to DC's storyline as possible as I could, so sorry if their is any mistakes. Kinda AU.
1. Chapter 1

It was a normal day for everyone in the mountain. Robin was watching the team with a smirk, Artemis and Wally were fighting, Aqualad was looking with disappointment, Superboy was stoic, and Miss Martian was copying the moves of some cheerleader on the television that for once did not show static.

"Shut up, Wally!" Artemis said with no avail as the speedster just kept running his mouth a mile a minute. Artemis held her hand in a fist seething with anger.

"Uh, Wally you should shut it." Robin gave the helpful tip to his best friend.

"Oh, come on I can talk whenever I like besides you all adore my voice."

"Kid, please refrain from annoying Artemis." Kaldur said with a sigh. They were all waiting for something to do. They were hoping a mission would come in from Batman or Black Canary, for now, they had to deal with talking and idling by.

"How was everyone's school day?" M'gann asked peppy walking to the kitchen counter the television was left on with the brown haired girl doing cheer moves in Artemis's opinion the most annoying voice.

"It was boring and humiliating as always, Megalisious," Wally said looking at her with a dreamy look.

"Pretty unasterous, there is this one teacher that I swear hates me or something, I don't know why. Maybe it was because I corrected her work too many times." The bird gave a small cackle.

"I followed M'gann all day."

"This boy named Dick was the most annoying kid today. Made the teacher give us some extra homework for saying something to the teacher about it being pointless."

"Sounds like a Dick." Wally laughed and Robin glared at his friend who pretended to look innocent.

"Atlantis has a different kind of school but I did talk to my friends Garth and Tula today." He gave a smile at the thought of the Atlantean girl.

"How about you, M'gann?" Kaldur asked making her face practically glow with happiness.

"My fellow killer bees talked about the new outfits we are getting they are adding glitter at my recommendation!" She clasped her hands in delight.

"Sounds swell, Megs." Wally said.

"Recognized Black Canary 13" The zeta beams announced. Kid Flash sped as fast as he could in front of the trainer.

"BC! Do we have a mission?" Wally fastly questioned pretty much vibrating with enthusiasm.

"Yes, come to the debriefing room." She said in a serious tone that gave the team a feeling of uneasiness. They looked at each other some with happiness others boredom and one looking to burst with excitement.

The team plied through the doors to see Canary looking at them with a serious expression.

"Listen up, everyone." She said looking at the group of young heroes. She pulled up a blue hologram containing the layout of their upcoming mission.

"There is a suspected super drug being shipped out at this location I just sent the coordinates to Robin." Robin tapped his holo-glove a few times then gave her a thumbs up.

"We are not 100 percent sure who is running this, but we do know there is a lot of basic street thugs as the protection. While their fighting is weak the bullets are not, so do not underestimate the situation. If anything goes wrong contact the league and I mean do not wait until it may be too late." She gave them a stern look.

"You can count on us." Aqualad told her with a straight posture.

"Good, the mission should take about four hours max. Half an hour to get there and back and the rest on the mission."

The team left to the bioship to get to the mission as soon as they could.

Landing at their destination, the team looked to the stereotypical warehouse competed with the shattered windows.

The outside was not guarded at all which automatically made Robin question if this was the right place.

"Wow, another warehouse." Artemis drolled and rolled her eyes with sarcasm.

"Robin you and Artemis scout inside the building, Kid you and M'gann try to secure the perimeter, and Superboy and I will wait for the signal to enter from Robin and Artemis." Kaldur ordered the team whose emotions turned to serious.

"Link us up." He told the martian.

"Link is up." She said as her eyes turned green for a second.

'Everyone here?' She asked.

'Yep.'

'Sure thing!'

'Hm.'

'I am here.'

'Same.'

Robin disappeared in a second which annoyed the team being it is hard to keep track of the little bird. Wally switched to his covert mode and sped to search around the building. Miss Martian went invisible and Artemis ran through the cool night air to sneak inside.

Robin jumped on the beams looking down at the dark warehouse the only light being the moon's light that came from the broken windows. What unsettled him was the fact that there were no thugs or drugs anywhere.

'Uh, do you and Wally see anyone M'gann?' Robin asked sweeping through the air to enter the next warehouse room.

'Not yet.' She replied.

'I am in the east room and all I see are wood boxes with peanut packaging.' Artemis told the team.

'Was Black Canary wrong?' M'gann asked.

'I mean Batman is usually the one to give us missions, perhaps she accidentally gave us the wrong address or something.' M'gann said.

'Well, it is boring out here so should we just leave or contact her?' Conner asked.

'I think we should contact the league.' Kal said.

'No wait, I think I see something.' Robin said in the link.

'What?' Artemis asked.

Robin jumped down bringing up dust with him as he picked up a piece of paper. The paper gave him a slight chill as it had an owl-like marking in black ink.

'Nevermind it is just a piece of paper.'

'All that suspense for that!' Wally yelled in the link.

'Kid, be glad there is no chaos to cause others pain.' Aqualad told him.

'Yeah, yeah.'

Wally put his goggles down and rolled his eyes at the leader and continued to search the perimeter. Coming to a halt and bringing up dirt with him he spied a paper on the faded brick. Tearing it off it showed a black backward Flash symbol.

'Uh, Rob what was on that paper?'

'Why, it was just an owl.' The hacker answered his friend his eyes narrowing at the paper in his hand not realizing the speedster was doing the same.

I found one with a backward flash symbol.' He told the team not hiding the uneasiness.

After searching the building more the team soon enough had papers containing multiple weird symbols in the same black ink. They met up inside the building to search for some more. They had an owl, a flipped flash symbol, An L, A weird looking mantis with eyes, which Wally laughed at, a rose, and a crown.

"Guys this is weird. Do you think they are codes or something?" M'gann asked.

"This is not a code I have ever seen before." Robin eyed the paper in his hand with a misplaced feeling.

"I think we are being paranoid they are just shapes." Conner growled out crushing the paper in his hand and tossing it to the ground.

"I don't know Supey, I feel like I have seen this before." Robin said squinting at the owl searching his mind for where he had seen it prior.

0o0o0o0o

**Meanwhile at the Justice League Watchtower:**

The league was having a meeting about how to deal with the spreading rumors of a new copycat injustice league calling themselves "The Bloodlines."

"Do we even have any clue who is on this injustice League?" Flash asked the heroes at the table.

"Not yet, but I am trying to figure it out." Batman growled.

"How do we know this is not just a rumor?" Green Lantern asked the dark knight.

"We don't, but The Joker said something about some copycats who are trying to be them."

"The Joker is an insane man. How can you trust his word?" Diana asked not wanting to waste her time on the words of a mad man.

"Joker may be mad, but I know when he is telling the truth." Batman said looking at his team members.

"We are safer to look into this and hope it is just a goose chase then to regret ignoring it later." Superman stood at the end of the table with Wonder Woman crossing her arms sitting to the left of him.

Suddenly, the league's computer pinged with a message from an unknown source. The league looked in surprise, well except Batman who just started emotionless.

"Should we open it?" Green Arrow asked and Hawkgirl gave him a deadpan look.

"No, why would we do that?" She said with sarcasm.

"Enough." Batman barked and pressed except on the keyboard in front of him.

The message was a picture of a piece of paper with words written in black ink.

_Blood is thicker than seawater _

_As lies are spoken and spread _

_You better hurry and don't falter _

_We will come for your head _

_Looks is something you can't alter _

_Even if you see red _

The league looked at the eerie poem in front of them feeling unsettled.

"Look at the format." Batman said already reading the message ten times.

"A rhyme?" Flash questioned.

"No." He growled. "Line four says we, so there's multiple, each line is written with a different message, so we can infer that there is at least six different members, and the one thing they all have in common is they all seem to be talking to a single person."

"What do you mean a single person?" Martian Manhunter asked.

"Some say you or your." The Dark Knight explained to the alien.

"So, are they after one of us or just one person?" Aquaman asked.

"It could be they are after one person or they could be each after a different person." Flash added which some of the league gave him a surprised look.

"What I am smart, I mean I am a forensic scientist." Barry said which caused Oliver and Shayera to laugh.

"That is interesting, Flash." Clark told his friend looking at Batman who looked deep in thought.

"Where are the kids?" Batman asked Black Canary.

"They are at a warehouse to stop a drug from transporting."

"When should they be back?" He asked.

"In about forty-five minutes if it went well."

"Why do you ask about them?" Superman asked wondering why the detective wanted to know about the team when they had this problem with the Bloodlines.

"I have a bad feeling. Try to form a contact with them." The Gothamite told J'onn.

The Martian's eyes glowed a deep emerald and held a focused expression.

The league was shifting in anxiety at how long it took and Batman's unease, which they all knew was always valid.

"I am afraid I can not." The martian said with a sigh.

"Why!" Green Arrow yelled now worried about Artemis.

"M'gann could be too focused on something she is unwillingly blocking me out, too far of a distance, or she may be unconscious."

"I am trying to contact Robin." Batman said pressing buttons on his bat shaped wrist computer.

The wrist computer emitted a beeping noise for a few times but went unanswered

"Let's go to their last known location." Batman commanded already out to get his jet the others following to leave.

0o0o0o0o

While Robin was staring at the paper he heard a noise from ahead.

'Do you hear that?'

''Yeah, I think we are not alone.' Artemis said drawing her bow and arrow.

'I do not hear anything' Kid said.

'I do it is around us, but the heartbeat ratio does not make sense.' Conner thought.

'What do you mean?" kaldur asked his water-bearers ready.

'I hear shuffling all around, but no heartbeats really.'

'Wind?' Kid laughed nervously in the link. The dark warehouse seemed to get a bit colder and darker. Suddenly, six figures emerged from the shadows. Their eyes widened at the looks of their enemies quickly learning this was a setup.

Two they all knew, Sportsmaster and Lex. Another seemed to look like Flash but reversed, there was a tall formidable looking man in all black with an odd helmet, another looked like M'gann but in white martian form, but the creepiest was the man with glowing eyes and looked like a walking corpse.

"Who are you!" Aqualad shouted holding his swords out.

"My son, we are all part of each of your team's family." The helmet guy said in a deep voice.

"I don't have a family." Robin said glaring at all of them with three bird-a-rangs in hand.

"Au contraire, my flying Robin the Gray-Son of Gotham." The glowing eyed man said with a wide grin that reminded Richard of The Joker.

"I don't know you." Robin glared throwing a bird-a-rang at the man only for him to swat it away like an annoying fly.

"You are my great grandson heir to the court." The talon explained stepping forward.

"Those heroes kept you all from us and we will idle no longer." Lex held venom at the word heroes.

"Flash has never mentioned you." Wally said looking at the reverse of his uncle.

"Of course he hasn't. I am a distant descendant of Malcome Thawn and Barry Allen. Although, we may not be blood you are considered family."

"You are crazy, dude." Wally said putting his goggles down ready to fight.

Aqualad looked to the guy in the black suit.

"You are my son, Kaldur'ahm. Orin took you from me when you were little. He is the villain who has filled your head with lies!" Black Manta exclaimed.

"We do not wish to fight you just come with us." Lex stepped forward to Superboy.

"You are worse than Superman and that is saying something." Conner growled at his half genetic father.

"The league has filled your heads with lies!" Sportsmaster yelled to the teens but aimed it mainly at his daughter.

0o0o0o0o

**M'gann**

M'gann knew very well who was standing before her. It was her younger brother, Ma'alefa'ak. The last time she saw him was on mars when they were getting beat up by the green martians.

"How could you stand for the human and green kind!" Her brother snarled.

"J'onn and my friends have given me nothing but compassion which you can have too." She looked with sadness to her little brother she once swore to protect.

"They are all lying, and now you are corrupted!" Ma'alefa'ak yelled to his sister with a sneer.

M'gann flashed back to her life on Mars. She did feel guilty for her younger brother having to deal with it alone, but he was never this angry. She could practically feel all of their emotions pushing against her mind. Her brother held pure anger, not like Conner's, he was more… tainted. The guy that claimed to be reverse Flash held a bit of malice, but more curious. Kaldur's apparent father was calm and collected as was Lex, Sportsmaster held disgust and gave his daughter a glare that no parent should direct to their child, the man with glowing eyes had no emotion whatsoever.

"I am truly sorry, Ma'akefa." She said trying to send her emotions of regret to her brother.

"Look at you! You took their form, do you hate the white Martians too now?" He said in spite, clenching his teeth like an animal.

"No, I do not."

"Lies!" He yelled and his eyes glowed a toxic green.

**Conner**

The monsters who stood before Conner made him want to break something, like them. The way that other martian is glaring at M'gann makes him wish he had heat vision. Lex Luthor was also someone he currently wanted to fry. He always looks so smug and it was starting to piss him off. The memory of the patches made him fill with regret as Lex held one out.

"Come with me and together we will destroy Superman." His posture was straight as a pin and his eyes held mischief.

"Superman is better than you." Superboy said. Someone being lower than Superman on his likeness scale meant they could die for all he cared. M'gann was on the top and her younger brother was plunging right by Lex as he heard the alien's yells.

"Come now, Superman does not care for a clone."

"I don't care what he thinks!" Conner clenched his fists.

"Oh, don't you?" Lex questioned.

"No." He tried to look impassive by using Black Canary's techniques of controlling anger.

"Well, did you know that there is another Kryptonian. Superman accepted her right off the bat, like a puppy to a treat." He clicked his tongue.

Conner stared blankly, but inside he was raging with fury.

"He even calls her by her name, Kara Zor-El, or Kara." He smirked and Superboy wanted to burn him to ashes.

"Superboy." The man emphasized his name mocking Conner with it.

He couldn't take it any longer, so he charged with intent to break the man.

0o0o0o0o

**Artemis**

How dare he come here expecting her to just waltz back into her old life. How he treated her and her sister was unforgivable. The past memories of being forced to harm Jade. Whenever Jade or she refused or held back punishment came. Staring at her poster of Alice in Wonderland came to her every night wishing she could jump down a hole, like Alice. When Jade left that is when he became unbearable. The punishments were fierce and she was broken down like a piece of shattered glass. She would never forgive that excuse of a human being. Drawing her bow she held it with perfection as if she was daring him to mock her.

"Come now, Artemis. How can you throw on a mask and forget your past?"

"I never forgot." She growled tightening her hold on the bow.

"Do they even know everything about your past?

She clenched her teeth.

"How about you screaming for Jade to come and save you."

Artemis could feel her anger rising to the point of crying.

"Your mother left you, Jade left, do you think they will stay?"

"They are my true family!" She yelled.

"Wake up Alice, this isn't Wonderland." He smirked and she fired her sharpest arrow.

0o0o0o0

**Kaldur**

He stood tall and bore the helmet of his king's greatest enemy. This man murdered many innocents and caused chaos to Atlantis.

"Who are you." Kaldur drew his water bearers ready for a fight.

"Your father, Kaldur'ahm. Did that wretched Orin brainwash you that much?" The man stood in a regal manner.

"My king would've told me." He stood tall like a leader back.

"Would he now? Did he tell you anything about yourself? Or did he train you like a dog to follow his commands?" Black Manta challenged trying to make his son feel doubt.

"My king as took me in, and even if your words are true, you will never be a father to me." Kaldur got into a stance empowering himself with the magic from Atlantis.

"Please, I mean you no harm." Manta grounded out.

"But I do to you." Aqualad said.

"You will come to your senses." Black Manta drew his weapon and they clashed with a bang.

0o0o0o0o

**Wally**

Not that he would admit it, but this guy was giving him the heebie-jeebies. Sparks of yellow and red lightning came from him and Wally did not like it one bit. Reverse Flash held an aura of someone who felt no remorse for his actions. Wally did not know why his uncle did not tell him of this man, but he will find out later.

"Ha, someone has no originality! I think my younger cousin could come up with a better suit and name." Wally laughed trying to hide his unease.

"Wallace West, also known as Kid Flash, I think you are the one lacking originality." The man stated.

"You just stooped to a teen's level!" Kid laughed

"Join me, Wallace. We must stop Barry from creating Flashpoint." He said with such seriousness that made Wally almost believe him.

"The future must be saved." The lightning became a darker color.

Sure, run from your problems." Wally grinned.

"Oh, I'll run alright." The man gave a grin like the Joker's and the lightning got even darker to Kid's dismay.

Wally didn't even see him coming.

0o0o0o0o

**Richard**

"Gray-son of Gotham." The freak acted like someone who greeted a past friend with delight.

"Excuse me, but I have no clue what that means." Robin equipped himself with more bird-a-rangs.

"The Bat has taken you from your lineage and destiny." His eyes glowing made the bird feel like he was looking into his soul.

"Yeah, I don't know man." Robin said acting exasperated.

"Gray-Son you were meant to be Talon. The leader of the Court of Owls and we do not appreciate the Bat intervening."

"Sorry, you're going to have to take it up with him." Robin threw a bird-a-rang again. The man looked annoyed and caught it between his fingers in front of his face. Flicking it aside he glanced up at the bird with pity.

"You can be so much better. This is pathetic I have expected more from you, Richard."

The dark shrouded everyone with visible light.

"Still don't know what you are talking about or who you are. I mean why not just leave me alone, because that would be whelming."

"Your words are puerile, Gray-son. We will have to work on that.

"Who are you?"

"William Cobb." The man grinned eerily and somehow just that look made him more frightening than Batman or the Joker.

"Pathetic." Cobb sneered and threw a dagger with accuracy and with vast speed at Robin, who barely dodged in time.

"You have much to learn, my Gray-son

0o0o0o0o

The fight was all over the place. Speed, strength, and endurance keeping the teens going. They tried to talk in the link, but M'gann's mind battle seemed to be taking up her focus, so no link. Wally was hardly dodging and his defense was poor compared to the man. Wally was convinced Reverse Flash was messing with him like a cat with a mouse. Superboy was down due to a new kryptonite weapon Lex used. Currently, Artemis was guarding him and fighting both Lex and Sportmaster off with difficulty. Robin flipped with a grace that reminded Cobb of his son. He truly was his gray-son, although he needed a lot more training and the pesky taunts needed to be gone. Robin would be quite easy to take down, but Cobb was entertained by the flips. Aqualad and his father is in a violent, yet elegant sword battle. The villains heard the sound of a jet and they knew the league was here.

"We shall give you one week to decide. Remember Wallace, Flashpoint." Reverse Flash said and sped off in a blur taking Sportsmaster and Lex with him. Black Manta gave his son a slight nod and jumped out the window to the water below. M'gann's brother growled and brain blasted M'gann to the ground, only to vanish. William stood high in the center of the warehouse with no intention to leave.

"Dude, you are toast." Wally laughed as the league burst through the doors.

"Get away from them!" Wonder Woman yelled throwing her sword like a javal it pierced the air. Cobb merely caught it with a twist. Now holding the Amazonian's sword he gave a gruff laugh.

"Pathetic." His eyes pierced sharper.

"Who are you?" Batman asked his eyes peering at the man who held a familiar face.

"William Cobb, I am here to take my Gray-son back." The sword was thrown at the Bat with speed to rival Flash.

Luckily, Superman was quicker and shielding his friend.

"You have ruined our lineage, so now the court it out for your head." Cobb said.

The heroes tensed when he turned his back to them.

"One week." He looked at Robin and left through the window.

The league hurried to help the kids.


	2. Chapter 2

The League was too preoccupied with their proteges than the man who just left. Robin was staring at the window where Cobb disappeared. While everyone else was being looked at, Batman walked over to Robin and placed his hand on his shoulder.

"Are you okay, Robin?" The Dark Knight asked his ward.

"Yeah." Robin didn't say anymore as Bruce took it that he did not want to talk about it.

Looking over at his team members to check on them he checked their welfare with a glance.

Superboy was being helped by Black Canary and surprisingly Superman as he gave glances and mutters to the boy. Artemis looked like her arm was injured but what Sportsmaster targeted was her emotions. She looked as if she was about to break down and Ollie kneeled in front of her saying reassuring things and wrapping her arm with what he had brought. M'gann looked completely distraught and was currently trying to be helped by J'onn who was failing. Robin could tell Wally was having conflicting thoughts no doubt about Flashpoint. Barry was trying to ask him questions, but Kid just answered in short responses. Kaldur'ahm and Orin were having a discussion about what happened which soon turned to a minor conflict about Black Manta. Still staring at the team he never noticed Batman's hand still on his shoulder and Wonder Woman walking to him kneeling, like Ollie with Artemis.

"Are you alright, Little one?" She asked with sincerity. She knew that Batman was not the best with compassion while he was Batman, and she hated to see the little bird so lost looking.

"Huh, oh yeah I am feeling the aster." Robin gave a small smile and he knew that it wasn't fooling anyone.

"Robin, who was that?" Came Batman's gruff voice and Diana glared at the Gothamite for the question.

"Do we need to know now?" She asked emphasizing now and shifted her eyes back to the boy.

"Yes."

"Why?"

"The sooner I know the faster I can figure this out." He stated with the always impassive look.

"How about Robin's wellbeing?" She grounded not backing down from his behavior.

"Robin is fine." He said looking at his protege.

"He may look fine, but what about his emotions?" She held a glare that could rival his.

"Robin and I will talk later." His teeth clenched in anger at her saying he doesn't care about his son.

"I am okay, Aunt Diana." Robin said and her face softened at the term Aunt.

"You haven't called me that since you were nine."

Robin gave her a genuine smile and told both of them thanks for checking on him. He first ran to M'gann who was having a mental break down. J'onn was trying to calm her with no avail as her mind was everywhere.

"Miss M, it is okay." Robin grabbed her hands to push them away from her face. She looked frazzled and the most upset Robin has ever seen her. She was always upbeat and peppy, so it made his heartache at the Martian's sadness.

"Come on, we will figure all this out and everything will be asterous!" He gave the brightest smile he could. M'gann's mouth turned up a little at his word usage and smile. Not long after, her small smile faded and she started to cry again.

"He despised me, Robin. My little brother I swore to protect wanted to harm me, and it is my fault."

"M'gann trust me when I say he is just misguided." He lowered his voice to a bit louder than a whisper.

"His mind was so angry and he looked at me in such an awful way." Tears streamed down her face.

"M'gann everything will turn out," Robin said. In his mind, he thought about how he hated to give unsure reassurances to her, but he hated her like this.

"You promise?" She wiped her tears with her hand. Robin's mind rushed at the thought of saying no, but he just couldn't.

"Yes." For some reason, that small word crushed his heart more than he thought it would.

J'onn standing to the side looked relieved that she was okay and gave Robin a smile, who nodded back. J'onn hugged her and he looked at the other members.

Supey was still unconscious, Kaldur looked peeved, Artemis calmed down, and Wally was still acting odd.

Superman is the only one able to lift Conner, so he picked him up and was beamed up by Green Lantern. Satisfied that the young justice member looked as well as they could be, for now, so Wonder Woman took Artemis, M'gann, and Kaldur on her jet to go back to the mountain. Wally and Flash ran back, leaving Robin with his mentor to go on the bat-jet. The remaining Leaguers beamed back up to the watchtower for another discussion.

**With the League **

Flash was in a panic over what had just transpired. He just could not stop pacing, well more of running. It was starting to get on Green Arrow's nerves.

"Barry, we need to figure this out, so can you please think rationally." Black Canary asked in a polite manner knowing Ollie was about to snap at the Speedster.

"Think rationally! Dinah, that was Reverse Flash! Wally was never even supposed to know about him, I thought he disappeared way before Wally became Kid Flash." He was in a panic thinking about his last encounter with the man. He definitely did not even want Wally even a country away from him... Hawkgirl slammed the end of her mace on the table to get their attention.

"We need to come up with a plan. We already know most of them, so the ones who know about them can catch the rest of us up." She said.

**"Recognized Superman 01, Green Lantern 14."** The Zeta beam echoed.

"We already know about Lex and Sportsmaster." Flash snapped.

"Yeah well, you don't know everything about Sportsmaster." Green Arrow glared.

"Calm down, everyone. Fighting and getting annoyed is not going to help any sooner." Clark said taking his seat at the end of the table.

"Oh, so what don't we know." Flash rolled his eyes.

"Flash!" Superman scolded him like a parent would a child.

"That he is-" Green Arrow was cut off.

"Artemis's father," Batman said appearing out of nowhere making some of them jump.

"What the hell, Batman!" Ollie yelled glaring at the man.

"Where did you even come from? I did not hear the Zeta." Flash asked but was ignored or blocked out by the rest.

"She is his daughter! How could you keep this from us" Hawkgirl glared at the archer.

"Relations doesn't matter to the actions of the person." Batman told her.

"Oh! Don't think I forgot about you and holding this information and probably much more!" She yelled.

"Hawkgirl." Green Arrow said and she sat back down.

"Let's talk about the relationships first with all of them." Superman said.

"We know Artemis's, Kid's, and Superboy's already." Flash reminded them glancing at Batman, J'onn, and Aquaman.

"Kaldur's father is Black Manta. I never wanted to tell him that information, as he is the enemy." Orin said his voice booming with an echo.

**"Recognized Wonder Woman 03." **

"What did I miss?" She asked taking her seat next to Superman and across from Batman.

"Apparently, Artemis's father is Sportsmaster and we just learned Aqualad's is Black Manta." Hawkgirl told her glaring at the two mentors.

"Aqualad is one of the best I have ever met, and I did not want his bloodlines to cause him trouble." He explained.

"It's not Aqualad. We are worried Manta will come after him and what if he did and we never even knew because we did not know this information." Green Lantern piped in.

"I was protecting him." He persisted.

"Keeping secrets is going to be our downfall." Diana said.

"She is right, now what about the others?" Clark asked.

"M'gann is originally a white martian. White Martians are considered inferior on Mars. M'gann had a brother that I was not aware of and she explained to me what had happened between her and her younger brother. She protected him from the other Martians, but one day he was taken by one of the green Martians. They convinced her he was killed, so she came with me later on and held regret regarding him. He came back full of hatred at her betrayal of her leaving him there alone." J'onn explained in his normal calm voice.

"That's-" Flash began.

"Sad." Green Arrow finished.

"He is full of anger that I am afraid can not be reversed, his anger is embedded deep in his mind." J'onn told them.

"Okay, what about Robin?" Flash questioned and the rest of the League was shocked at the fact that Robin had an evil relative they never heard of. They all knew Robin was adopted by Batman, but the only thought they could have is if Batman himself had a relative after Robin.

"I don't know a lot about him-" Batman started but was cut off by Flash groaning.

Batman gave him a glare for the interruption and for him to explain the outburst.

"I said you know everything and Arrow and I bet on it, I lost." He said and the rest of the League glared.

"As I was saying, I don't know a lot, but I do know he is the leader of an assassin organization called the Court of Owls. The court of owls are discrete and they kill who knows about them." The Dark Knight explained.

"So, what does he have to do with Robin?" Dinah asked.

"I think Cobb has something to do with his family and the circus." He said with his always impassive face.

"How? His family died when he was eight. The only one left is Haly." Diana looked confused.

"I don't know, but I think I am going to have a talk with Haly." Bruce said.

"As Batman or Bruce?" Superman questioned wanting to know how he will get the information. If he is Batman, Haly will be interrogated with fierceness, but if he was Bruce he would be the father pleading for the information.

"Bruce." He told the Kryptonian.

"When? Because what are we going to do to protect the kids?" Arrow's voice grew loud, almost shouting.

"Now. I recommend you all to talk to them more and try to find as much information as you can." He growled standing up fast and his cape swished as he turned to the Zeta.

**"Batman 02."**

"Seriously, I never heard that. Did you guys when he came in?" Flash asked and was met with groans.

"Shut up, Bartholomew." Ollie said and Flash looked annoyed.

**0o0o0o0o**

Reaching Haly's did not take long for him. Yes, he was a lot slower as Bruce, but this was worth the time. Rushing in and demanding answers would never get Haly to reveal anything about the boy he sees as a grandson. Knowing Robin was at the Mountain with his friends put his mind at ease. Red Tornado was watching them and some members of the League went there after the meeting. Adjusting his tie; he stepped out of the car. Looking at the circus brought him back to that awful night where Dick lost his family. The tent was still the same, striped red and white with bright flashing lights around the top's rim. The air was brisk and the night sky of Bludhaven penetrated. The stars did not shine as the pollution from this toxic town made the night darker. Walking the path to the bright tent kept reminded him of the once eight year old boy happy as could be. He felt guilty not telling Dick about the circus being in Bludhaven, or coming here without the boy knowing.

Entering was a whole different story. The smell was the same and the decoration was the same. The only difference was that the trapeze now contained a net underneath. The acts were practicing their tricks from the lion tamer to the knife thrower. The place was hectic and loud full of animals roars and the horn of an elephant. Looking to the side he could see Haly in his pinstriped suit holding a cane. The man noticed Bruce right away and waved at him with a smile. The smile turned to a frown as he could see the serious expression on the younger gentlemen's face.

"Is everything alright? Is Dick okay?" The man's eyes pleaded to tell him everything was fine, but it wasn't.

"Yes, Mr. Haly Dick is alright, but I am afraid it may not be for long." Bruce cut to the chase not wanting to delay the questioned.

"Why, what's wrong." His voice shook a bit and his eyes were frantic.

"Do you know about the Court of Owls?" Bruce asked and Haly's eyes grew wide with terror.

"No, who are they?" The man tried to play it off but Bruce knew better.

"Please Haly, I think they are after Dick." Bruce told the man knowing he will come to his senses.

"Not here." The man's eyes darted and motioned for the younger man to follow him. They ended up passing the workers and despite the noise, it seemed they all stared at the men with a look of brief unease.

They ended up going to the back of the tent in the extra room reserved for Haly himself. He still had the photo of Dick and his family all smiling in the photo. Dick was on top of his dad's shoulders smiling wider than he remembered. Haly gave a long sigh and turned back to Bruce.

"The Court of Owls recruits new members from the circus and Dick was supposed to be the next recruit." Haly was showing regret.

"You were just going to give him to them!" Bruce was seething.

"No! God, no! Dick is like a grandson to me I was going to figure something out." Haly looked peeved.

"What do you have to hold against them?" Bruce asked wondering how the hell this man was going to prevent Dick from being taken by a group of highly trained assassins.

"I don't know. Before I planned it perfectly his family… well, you know." The man looked to the ground and put his face in his hands.

"I need to protect him and in order to do that I need to know what I am going against." Bruce told the man.

"All I know is that they reside in Gotham and they are basically shadows."

"Anything else?"

"Well, I have heard rumors of them being the living dead." Bruce's eyebrows went up at that. The living dead was definitely something he did not expect.

"Dead?"

"Yeah, they are pretty much impossible to kill because they are already dead." Haly looked anxious like he was being watched.

"Pretty much? So is there a way to stop them?"

"Nobody likes the cold, Mr. Wayne." Was his response.

"Cold." Bruce pondered knowing exactly what to use. He kept a collection of the Gotham villains weapons, and just his luck he happened to have Mr. Freeze's freeze gun.

"Thank you, Mr. Haly, for your help. You have saved Dick's life." Bruce said and shook the man's hand.

"Tell Dick that I am sorry." Haly did not look pleased, but remorseful.

"Why don't you tell him?"

"I am afraid my time is up, Mr. Wayne." Haly's eyes were glazed with all the negative emotions running rampant in his mind. Bruce knew this was not retirement or even a new start, but a foreshadow of death and he was going to try and stop it.


End file.
